Enoch (satellite)
| Enoch | |
|---|---|
| Type: | 3U-Cubesat and work of art |
| Country: |
 United States
|
| Operator: | Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
| COSPAR-ID : | 2018-099V |
| Mission dates | |
| Size: | 34 × 10 × 10 cm 3 |
| Begin: | December 3, 2018, 18:34 UTC |
| Starting place: | Vandenberg SLC-4E |
| Launcher: | Falcon 9 |
| Orbit data | |
| Rotation time : | 96 min |
| Orbit inclination : | 97.7 ° |
| Apogee height : | approx. 590 km |
| Perigee height : | approx. 570 km |
Enoch is a space artwork by the US concept artist Tavares Strachan and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). It is an approximately 20 centimeter high golden canopic with a bust of the US military pilot and astronaut aspirant Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. (1935–1967) on the lid . The vessel has been orbiting the earth as a satellite in a polar orbit since December 3, 2018 .
A copy of the satellite is on display at LACMA.
execution
The jar is made of 24- carat gold and is firmly mounted in a matt black transport frame. The frame has a 3U cubesat format, which means that it is 34 × 10 × 10 centimeters in size. It has three outer surfaces that are provided with radar reflectors to better locate the satellite. A Cubit identifier is also attached to it - a small radio transmitter that emits a detection signal. Otherwise the satellite is passive, it has no further electronics and no drive.
Three identical copies of this object were made. One of these was used for the necessary pre-space flight qualification tests, during which the satellite is subjected to violent vibrations, for example, in order to simulate the rocket launch. A second copy was actually brought into space and the third is used as an exhibit.
background
Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. was trained as an astronaut, but was killed in a landing accident with a starfighter before the possibility of spaceflight arose for him. It took a long time before he was finally recognized as an astronaut , which was also interpreted by critics as racism against the first African-American astronaut aspirant. For example, his name was not mentioned on the “ Fallen Astronaut ” memorial , which was brought to the moon in 1971 with the Apollo 15 mission.
According to his own statement, the intention of the artist Tavares Strachan was to bring the soul of Lawrence into space instead of the space flight that did not take place . As "transport packaging" for the soul he chose the canopic jar a vessel in ancient Egypt physical to store the remains of the deceased served. In a Shinto shrine in Japan, he had the canopies declared as the "container of the soul" by Lawrence.
The idea for the implementation of the project is said to have originated in 2014 at a meeting between Strachan and Gwynne Shotwell , the president of the US space company SpaceX . SpaceX is a sponsor of the LACMA Art + Technology Lab , which in turn financed the space artwork.
Mission history
Enoch was brought into space on December 3, 2018 with the Rideshare flight SSO-A on a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX. On board were 63 other satellites , including the ultimately failed space art work Orbital Reflector .
After the launch, there were some complications in identifying the 64 new satellites, which did not work in all cases. However, Enoch was recognized within a month thanks to his Cubit signature. The satellite is located in a slightly elliptical orbit at an altitude of almost 600 kilometers. As a result of friction with the still very thin atmosphere there (the exosphere ), the orbit will gradually sink over the years before the work of art burns up when it re- enters the earth's atmosphere.
Web links
- Enoch at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (English)
- Enoch on Gunter's Space Page
- Current orbit and position of the satellite at N2YO.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gunter Dirk Krebs: Enoch. In: space.skyrocket.de. Retrieved September 13, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Enoch. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Retrieved September 13, 2019 .
- ↑ Christoph Seidler: SpaceX is facing a new milestone in rocket recycling. In: Spiegel Online . November 28, 2018, accessed September 13, 2019 .
- ↑ Jeff Foust: Space Flight herded 64 CubeSats Onto a single Falcon 9 and has the scratch marks to prove it. In: Spacenews. August 23, 2019, accessed September 13, 2019 .